March 21, 2011

One of the biggest stories to come out of this year's BNP Paribas Open is how the doubles competition seemed to overtake the tournament. You had the top four players playing with their countrymen, blitzing well-established doubles teams to make the latter rounds. Fans were lapping it up. The Murray Brothers on Court 3? Packed. Wondering why Stadium Court is empty during a night match? That's because Rafa and Marc were on-court over on Court 2. The fans were absolutely loving it. It may be a novelty but it wasn't a throwaway. Fans genuinely felt as though they were seeing something unique, fun, and of the highest quality.

So leave it to the last minute team (X-Man asked Dolgo to play 15 minutes before the deadline) to run through the competition, grinning and giggling while beating the Bryans, the Murrays, the Indo-Pak Express, and Team Switzerland, to hoist the trophy. You want to know how great this team was? They were converting fans left and right, as fans of their vanquished opponents would show up to their matches the next day, vocal and loyal. They did it by having an infectious, joyful energy that you couldn't resist, while playing a dynamic and athletic style of doubles that Roger called "unconventional". They pounded the ball at their opponents and scrambled in patterns that screamed "HOLYSHITWEHAVENOIDEAWHATWEAREDOING". I suspect fans saw themselves in that haphazard style.

Check it:

So fun. I hope someone uploads the video of the trophy ceremony. Dolgo's giggle as he said it was especially cool to beat Roger is hilarious.

As for the ladies, Sania and Vezzie almost didn't take the court. Vezzie's been struggling with a wrist injury all week, something that Sania's very familiar with. Thank goodness they did. They blitzed Bethanie and Meghan on their way to the title.

Ah, dubs. They never show it on television but I always make it a point to watch whenever I'm at a tournament. If you're coming to Miami be sure to fit it into your schedule. Word is that Andy and Nole are teaming up. Here's hoping that Sam and Fran do the same.

I'm still in a bit of shock. I honestly can't believe Nole pulled off the come from behind win over Rafa. I'm not sure why I can't believe it. Clearly Nole's given me no reason to have any doubts about his game. But after Rafa took the first set and Nole's body language seemed to indicate a tired and resigned boy, I thought it was just a matter of time. I totally get the Serbian fatalism and I thought that Nole accepted the fact that his luck had run out and that he was ok with it running out against Rafa. He just didn't seem to have the fire that he had yesterday.

But just as with Fed yesterday, Rafa was the one who blinked. He struggled with his serve, serving 25% first serves in in the second set, allowing Nole's confidence to grow and giving him more and more looks at second serves. At one point Nole would reel off six straight games, quite a feat considering Rafa had only been broken three times in the tournament. It got to the point that Rafa turned negative, scowling after easy misses, barking at his box, and generally, to quote BG, "looking disheveled."

The win not only gets Nole yet another huge title this year, besting both Fed and Rafa back-to-back, but it breaks Nole's 0-5 streak against Rafa in finals. It also earned him the deserved title of the best tennis player in the world right now, a title that would be much more tenuous had he lost to Rafa.

It's hard not to watch Nole these days and think "Well, your luck has to run out at some point, right?" Indian Wells was all about Nole, both on court and off. The kid has swagger. Whether it was bageling opponents on court, yukking it up on the practice courts and field, or he and his team camping out in the middle of the player cafe/courtyard, laughing loudly and generally drawing attention to themselves, he has been ever-present. I keep waiting (though not hoping) for the day that he pulls an Icarus and comes crashing down. But he's on a 20-match win streak (dating back to Davis Cup) and it's actually 23 matches if you include Hopman Cup. Other than these two matches against Fed and Rafa, he has looked absolutely untouchable, playing an unmatched level of tennis. While there's no reason to think he can't run his streak to at least 27 in Miami, I can't shake that nagging feeling that it has to end soon.

March 20, 2011

"I know that if a player has to beat me, either she has to overpower me or she needs to stand there for hours and hours. That's mostly what happens if a player has to beat me. It's a good feeling to have, because I feel that I'm in good shape. I can stand there for hours and I can take my chances."

That was Caro on Thursday in advance of her semifinal matchup with Masha and as much as we all like to give her shit about her seemingly weaponless game, it's pretty hard to argue with her assessment. "Hit me off the court or outlast me. Those are your options."

Today against Mono, that "or" turned into a very emphatic "and". Caro dominated the first set, running down every ball and forcing misses from Mono.

"See? You can't hit through me."

With her back against he wall and recognizing her gameplan was fail (smart!) Descartes threw caution to the wind in the second, stepping into the court to blast the ball left and right. Caro couldn't get the balls back with interest, Mono capitalized. You know she's is in a good spot when she's standing two feet inside the court in the rallies. To give full-credit to the Mathlete, it wasn't just a fine display of ball-bashing. She came to the net, she mixed up the pace, and she smartly attacked Caro's forehand.

"Oh, crap. You're hitting through me."

But the knock on Marion hasn't been her ability to hit the ball. I think she's proven over the time that she's one of the best ball-strikers if given the time to set up. The knock is her fitness, which, while she's looking trimmer this year, has never improved to the point to make her a real threat in a tough three-setter. I was shocked she made it to the finals at all. She has a history of rolling through the early rounds of tournaments only to hit a wall around the quarterfinals.

"Well, you're going to have to outlast me."

It was clear through the first through games of the third that Mono was out of gas. Her legs were heavy, she was breathing hard, and she just couldn't get any stick on her shots. Caro meanwhile, was fit as a fiddle. That was pretty much the story in this one: fitness --> consistency --> win.

Credit to Mono for a fine run here and a return to the Top 10. It'll be fun having her back in the mix. Her brand of aloof-nuttiness is always fun and, I must say, admirable. I get the sense that hers is a lonely world. I always see her walking around tournaments alone and unrecognized. She doesn't have a crew of countrywomen to hang with either. As she pointed out in her post-match speech, her father is the only person in her box, while Caro's was overflowing with family and friends. For whatever reason, rightly or wrongly (seriously, I'm not judging one way or the other), she's a misfit. And goddammit if I don't love misfits. I may not like your music, but I'll respect your ability to play it.

Congrats to Caro on arguably her biggest title of the year. You have to credit the girl, even if begrudgingly. She's doing everything she can do to quiet the haters. With an injured Kim in Miami, she's gotta be the presumptive favorite, whether we like it or not.

And damn if that kit looks so much better when you cover up the ruffles.

March 18, 2011

I'm sorry. But I just cannot take you seriously with that ruffle-noose.

That's two comprehensive wins for Caro over Shrieko, this time a 1 and 2 beating in an hour and twenty minutes on a cold and gusty desert night. After breaking her to start the match, Masha couldn't hold serve or do much to put Caro off, and the kid ran off with the set. The second set was, impossibly, worse than the first. Masha said Caro played solid and that she felt flat, to which I reply, "yuh-duh!!!!"

In fact, Masha's quite the oracle of wisdom these days. She summed up the criticisms of Caro's inability to hit winners thusly:

"I don't think it really matters if you don't miss. I mean, then why do you need to winners?"

Oh, ATP. You're so cute. You make us pretend to care in the early rounds, only to give us the juicy goods regardless.

The men's semifinals at the BNP Paribas Open will feature two revenge match-ups between the four players to have won ALL the Slams since 2005. First up at 11:00am is the newly maybe, hopefully, let's pray he's healed DelPo vs. a not-so-scintillating-this-week Rafa. Rafa's lost three straight times to Delpo, perhaps most memorably (at least to me) in Miami 2009, where I saw Rafa unravel emotionally in a way that I had never seen nor seen since. Delpo has been fighting off a cold/virus all week, but he got a walkover on Thursday over Tommy, which had to have helped.

I regret to say that I haven't had a chance to see Delpo play live all week, so I can't really comment on his form. But I feel like all I need to know is this: He came back from 1-6 down in a tiebreaker against PEHK by simply deciding to hit the shit out of the ball. It worked. So...I'm guessing he's finding his power game.

I'm going to go ahead and tip Delpo here, simply because Rafa hasn't been all that impressive this week. But hey, he competes, and 90% of the time, that's enough to notch the win.

The Battle of Vamos will be followed by the Battle for Number 2, as Fed and Nole clash for the third time this year, the winner getting the distinct honor of staring at Rafa's perfect ass. Nole had a bit of a hiccup today against Reeshard, which only means that he was a few ticks below untouchable. He fell behind in both sets and but shored up and reeled off a string of games in response. Janko said it best: He's got confidence falling out of his pockets.

Fed's had a pretty easy draw, especially after Stan rolled over today in a 2 and 4 drubbing in an hour. Want to know how much Fed is in Stan's head? Andrew Burton, who is here writing for Tennis.com, observed that Stan completely abandoned his usual ritual of taking 5 balls on his last service game. He just took the first one the ballkids tossed to him and served. That's an owned man right there.

Personally, I think you're an idiot to bet against Nole these days. Having had the opportunity to observe him quite a bit in Perth, Melbourne, and now Indian Wells, I can tell you this: The boy got swagga out the yin yang. Never underestimate that. The way he walks into the room these days, strutting around the player cafe, accomodating fan requests and soaking in the adulation, he just oozes that "it" factor. I suppose some will say that he's always had it. You'll get no argument from me. But the difference in 2011 is that he *knows* he has it.

On the difference between 2008 and 2011:

"Just inexperience, you know, a young tennis player who has made an incredible achievement winning a Grand Slam and then a couple of other major events, it maybe happened too fast for me and I was confused and didn't know what to do. But now it's different."

Mono cruised past Wicky to become the first Frenchwoman in to the BNP Paribas Open finals. Good for her. Sometimes it's nice to reminded that a player you don't necessarily like is actually quite good at tennis. She's definitely proven that this week. She has a chance to break back into the top 10 if she wins the title.

But whatever doubts or disdain I have for her on the court, I have nothing but love for her off-court. Chick gives amazing quote. From Matt Cronin's Ticker post:

Marion Bartoli claims that she has a 175 IQ. That IQ is higher the other published numbers of famous people, including Plato (170), Beethoven (165), Albert Einstein, Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking (160), the same as philosopher Immanuel Kant, but below that of chess players Gary Kasparov (190) and Bobby Fisher (187). Interestingly, Bartoli's father, Walter, is a chess buff.

"I hope to be that good in tennis one day,” she said with a laugh. "I did a test when I was younger, but I'm not really someone that is really telling everyone, 'Oh, I'm so smart.' I'm kind of hiding it. But that's how I am, you know. It just comes naturally. That's how I was born with."

Marion Bartoli and Lady Gaga: Born this way.

Of course, I've been having a go at her all day via Twitter:

It's a good day when you get to combine Scientology and Marion Bartoli into a good joke.

I just love watching these two athletes compete. I love it more than just watching their tennis, to be honest. If I had to choose a player from the WTA or the ATP to play one match for my life I would pick these two without hesitation. That's not necessarily because I think they're the best tennis players who could beat anyone across the net, especially based on their form at the moment.

I would choose Masha and Rafa because they compete on every point regardless of the situation. Put them on a tiny court in a parking lot with used balls, wooden racquets, and no crowd, and they would fight until the end. Even if they lost I would die knowing that they fought for every point until the last. There is no fatalism with them, there is no "It's just not my day", there is no "I just don't have it today". Much like I said about Fran the other day, their ability to compete can pull their level up and they will make the effort regardless of whether it's a Slam final or a game of foosball at a bar.

Masha was solid through a set and two games, winning the first 62 and going ahead 2-0 in the second. Then the wind started to kick up a bit on Stadium Court and Masha's serve went wonky. As the serve goes, so does Masha's game, and Peng, who's had a quietly fantastic 2011 season (with wins over Fran, Sveta, and JJ) was able to capitalize with her aggressive game and even the match.

And that's when the competitor dialed it up to 11. Down break point at 2-3 in the third set, Masha would step in to hit a gutsy inside-out backhand winner to save it, and then follow up with two more clean winners to seal the game. From there it was pedal to the metal, as she took control of the match and reeled off the next 3 game to seal the match, 63 in the third, fist-pumping and come-on-ing all the while to keep herself positive and in the match. It was awesome to watch.

"It's realizing the situation and battling through no matter how good or bad you were playing, and knowing that you still have many points an games ahead of you and just make the most out of it. Yeah, there's no reason why - if you did it for that period of time in the beginning, there's no reason why you can't continue it. I knew that in my mind."

Ah, the power of the mind. I think Charlie Sheen talked about it but I'm way more convinced by Masha's take. Masha gets Caro on Friday night for a spot in the finals.

For the second straight night, Rafa was tested and came out on top despite not playing his best. Rafa's form has been far from brilliant this week. He seems to be struggling with his timing and the desert conditions. But great champions find a way to win and Rafa is nothing if not one of the greatest champions of all time. After dropping the first set 57, he would play some fantastic tennis to race to a 5-0 lead in the second, closing it out at 62. But his level dipped in the third and Ivo did what he did best: He served bombs. When asked what it's like to return Ivo's serve, Rafa likened them to penalty shots.

Forced into a decisive third-set tiebreaker, Rafa buckled down and returned fantastically well, building a 5-2 lead before finally closing it out 9-7. His reaction said it all:

Pull up a chair, kids. This is how champs get it done. He'll get Delpo on Saturday. Delpo's beaten him the last three times they've played. Juicy.

As some of you know, my kid sister lives in Tokyo. As you can probably imagine, despite the fact that I've had a blast here at Indian Wells, my mind has been elsewhere, stressed and worried about her well-being given all the insanity that we keep seeing in the news. She's fine, knock on wood, but personally I've been quite moved by the outpouring of support from the tennis community. Novak's wearing special tape, the Japanese players are obviously doing their part, players are tweeting about it, Kim has mentioned that there is talk of doing a fund-raising event, and today, Caro and Vika came out with a Japanese flag to observe a moment of silence for the victims. Caro made her agent drive two hours each way to get the flag.

"We just wanted to show that we're thinking about them over there. It's tough for us to do something, but at least we thought this was the least we could do."

The cynics will say different things but I appreciated the gesture and I spoke to Japanese reporters on site who did as well. The fact of the matter is that Caro is the #1 player in the world and, given the fact that she has a Japanese racquet sponsor, quite popular in Japan. These pictures will be beamed all over the world and I have to tip my cap to a 20 year-old kid taking the time to express her concern. Trust me, I've spoken to enough tennis players to know that they're generally not all that keen on world events, nor do they care.

March 17, 2011

Vika was forced to retire against Caro a mere three games into their match this morning due to a left hip injury sustained when she slid for a ball. That's three straight retirements in North American tournaments for Vika, but it was a smart decision to pull the ripcord and retire. She played through much of last year's clay court season injured and it's just not worth it. Good on Sam Sumyk, who came down during a coaching time out to talk her out of continuing. I have no doubt that Vika would have kept playing if not for his wise words.

Vika wouldn't be the only player to pull out today. Tommy gave Delpo a walkover after he pulled out before their match with leg strains. He said the physio told him he'd risk muscle tears if he took the court. Good news for Delpo given that he's been under the weather this week. He'll need all his energy to take on Rafa on Saturday for a spot in the finals.

March 16, 2011

Mono fought off some sort of virus or food poisoning to end Ana's inspired run in Indian Wells, 64 76. It was, to use a technical tennis term, a bummer. All credit to Mono. She was clearly struggling physically but once the point started she wasn't missing off either wing and she was running down everything, putting pressure on Ana to hit not only an extra ball but a better ball. Marion has always been one of those players who seems unbeatable when she's on. She didn't have her A+ game today. But it was pretty damn good. She'll face Yanina next, a match I will very likely not be watching.

All that said, Ana clearly had her chances. The two traded breaks for much of the second set and while she'd play perfect aggressive tennis while returning, Ana seemed to take her foot off the gas pedal juuuuuuuuuust a bit on her service games to give Mono a sniff. The big serve that bailed her out against JJ just wasn't there today and she looked slow off the jump. It's almost as though she's so shocked her serves go in that she isn't ready for the ball coming back.

The epic rally on the third point of the second set tiebreak sealed the deal for Ana. It was a grueling point that ended with Ana flat on her back and completely winded. It seemed to take her lungs and legs for the next few points and she wouldn't recover until they changed ends. But it was too late.

Still, considering that she came into this tournament with minimal expectations and came out of it with three straight wins and notching her biggest win of the year over a Top 10 player, I choose to look at the positives. I just really want her to get her legs under her by the time clay comes around. She could really do some damage there if her confidence is up.

See you in Miami, Ana! Call me if you want to grab a drink to talk about how Indian Wells is a far superior tournament ;)

What I wouldn't give for my favorite players to have Shahar and Frank's fight, resolve, and resourcefulness. The two fought for over 2 hours and 45 minutes in the searing afternoon heat, with Shahar coming out on top. She's got a chance to break into the top 10 here.

Fran didn't have it today and really, throughout the week her game hasn't been as tight as it needs to be. But the passion, heart, and creativity? She ain't slumpin' in that department. This was a tight three setter only because of those intangibles. On level of play alone, Shahar had Fran beat. But Fran "hoo-ha'd", sliced, diced, and converted a stadium of people into die-hard Schiavone fans. You could feel the crowd's love for her grow with every stroke, every fist pump, every wide, and every rueful smile after a miss.

All these recent debates about the vague concept of what is "good" for tennis are pointless. Is Caro being #1 "good" for tennis? Is Justine's retirement "good" for tennis? Is on-court coaching "good" for tennis?

Fuck all that. You know what's good for tennis? Francesca Schiavone. Bless.

Between Andrei telling JJ that she had no heart on a coaching timeout aired publicly all over the world and the intense one-hour debriefing that we witnessed on the practice field after her loss, you kinda gotta wonder how long this coaching relationship will last.

I'm not entirely sure they came to an agreement as to what happened in that match. But it was hilarious watching them try.

Sure, most tennis fans are looking at this OOP and creaming themselves over the prospect of a Rafa and Fed night session. Me? It's all about Ana vs. Mono. With the loss of Kim, Fran, and almost every other top seed, the bottom half of the draw has really opened up for Ana. She loves Indian Wells. Let's see how much Indian Wells loves her.

In other news, Team Serbia and Team Murray are in action. All the top seeded dubs teams have been shown the door, with the BryBros getting bounced last night by Dolgolisse. Who isn't rooting for an Olympic showdown between Spain, Switzerland, Serbia, and Great Britain?

The retirement means that Caro will retain the top ranking and, instead of playing Kim, Ana will play Mono. Kim says she's still planning to play Miami, but you have to think the rest of the field smells blood in the water. If I'm Kim I'm more concerned with getting healthy in preparation for a title run at Roland Garros. No need to run down the body and play injured.

Like whoa, Masha. I'll admit that I thought Masha would prevail over Dinara but not as decisively as 62 60. That was a hitting clinic is what that was. Clean, aggressive, powerful hitting from the Shriekster that, serve aside, was reminiscent of the way she hit the ball on her way to her 2008 Australian Open title.

Great run from Dinara here but this must have been a tough pill to swallow. After playing so well against Sam (can you all just start mentally inserting "serve aside" to anything I write about the quality of play?), Dinara got absolutely blasted off the court. Masha didn't even give her a chance, as Dinara was repeatedly left frozen in the middle of the court as Masha blasted winner after winner past her.

Oh, and the Bestie Rule, once again, is proven true: The universe will never allow Ana and Dinara to win on the same day.

Masha has Peng next, who has quietly had a fantastic 2011. I can't think Maria will have any problems with her, but then again, this is a woman who was taken to three sets less than a week ago by AMG. But is it too early to hope for a Glam Slam AO 2008 final redux?

There was fist-pumping, there was ajdeing, and there was smiling. That's the usual way of things whenever these two meet. But the difference in today's match between the two Serb Sisters is that while Ana typically only has a monopoly on the first two, today she owned all three. She played like she believed in every aspect of her game: her forehand, her backhand, her swing volley, they were all working today and they were all hit with conviction. It was actually beautiful to watch. If you're an Ana fan you know that it's been a loooooooong time since we could truly and honestly say her game was pretty. I don't know what she put in her Wheaties but she played without any doubt today.

Ok...most of it. The toss was still a problem. But again, today was a bit different. Typically, when Ana throws up an errant toss she'll catch it and you'll see her elbow lock and forearm ripple as she seems to be squeezing the ever loving crap out of the ball. I've seen this happen quite a bit. It has always been a sign of tension and obvious annoyance/embarassment with herself.

But that wasn't the case today. More often than not, Ana would just smile in reaction to the particularly egregious tosses. She was laughing with her box, engaging with the crowd, and smiling on missed challenges. On one particularly bad challenge, she started talking to the crowd while Hawkeye was loading to get their opinion. Upon seeing the error of her ways, she started laughing and apologized to JJ for even bothering to challenge. This was a loose kid.

Maybe she knew the Lord Baby Jesus was on her side?

Or perhaps she was playing in honor of Leather, who she has summarily fired. That's right folks. I actually got to break news today! We obviously noticed that Leather wasn't in Ana's box so I asked around, got confirmation of the split, then asked Ana about it in the presser. REPORTAGE. Don't worry. It won't happen again.

But yes, Ana and Leather have split. They remain friends but had differing views on where her fitness needed to go:

"I just felt like I needd to get a little bit stronger. I was feeling very weak on the court and I had quite a few injuries. I just want to take a bit different approach and gain some more muscles beause my game is so powerful. I felt weak and that caused a lot of stress on my body. At the end of last year I lost some weight and I felt really fast and strong on the court, but then I lost too much and I just felt like I couldn't produce anything out of the corners. I was feeling quite weak on the court and I couldn't recover. I just felt like I needed a little bit different approach. I needed to gain some of that strength back. Not dead weight, just some more muscle mass. It's a process.

So there it is. No more Leather. More on that in a bit.

This was a tough loss for JJ, as evidenced by the one hour she spent sitting on the practice field with her team, gesticulating wildly, talking animatedly, miming everything she did wrong and arguing about it. She gave full credit to Ana in the presser and said she just didn't feel like she was moving very well. That's a pretty accurate assessment of the match right there. Ana's strengths (big hitting, big serving, controlling rallies) were on and JJ's strengths (movement, return of serve, consistency) were off. Put it all together and you get a 64 62 loss that saw her coach call her out on a coaching timeout for not having any heart.

Way harsh, Tai.

Resplendent stuff from Ana, who follows in her BFF's footsteps to upset a top seed and more importantly, put together a performance to remind everyone that yes, she can be very good at tennis. With Kim's second set retirement to Mono due to a shoulder injury, Ana's got a real shot here. She'll get Bartoli in the quarters and either Yanina or Shahar in the semis.

With Dinara's run, Masha around, Ana beating JJ, and Sam sucking at tennis, this really does feel like 2008.

Poor DonkeyGrooming. She was scheduled to leave Indian Wells on Monday evening and was absolutely gutted to see that her beloved Fernando was scheduled for the last match of the day. But perhaps it was for the best. She didn't have to sit through watching her boy get beat in straight sets by the Sam that is not my Sam.

Sod went down to Kohlschreiber in straight sets. Quite the shocker. I'm not sure anyone on the grounds really knew how the hell that happened. As it turns out, Sod is suffering from a left foot injury that made him doubtful for the match.

“I think I lost the match when I decided to go on court, because today I shouldn't have done that. Sitting here after the match, it feels like I couldn't give 100 percent. I think it's pretty stupid to play.”

He'll have the foot examined in Miami.

Speaking of Miami, Ivo's on a mission to prove his wildcard denial was bunk. He backed up his win over Daveed by taking out Gilles in straight sets on Monday. Funny the little (or not so little) things that can motivate a player.

Finally, while some say that Donald Young came back to earth today in his 60 64 loss to Tommy, I just think the loss spoke volumes about how horribly Moose played on Saturday. However you spin it, he lost.

And there you have my round-up of players who I kinda don't really care to write about. As you can see, I put a lot of time and effort into this post. Look! I found you a quote!

Look, I get that people are annoyed that JJ and Ana were put first on Stadium 2. Actually...no, I don't get it. Look at the WTA lineup on Stadium and tell me which match you'd put on Court 2. Oh, what's that? You have a suggestion? Well you're full of shit. If you are honestly going to say with a straight face that Kim, Caro, or Masha should be on Court 2 then I can't even take you seriously.

The match I am most looking forward to tomorrow is absolutely 100% JJ vs. Ana. I also recognize that I am in a small minority in the greater world of tennis fans. People who paid money to see tennis on Stadium Court deserve a top-bill ticket and they got one. Personally, as one who is here on-site, and speaking for Steph, who actually paid money for tickets to this event, we're super excited the match is on Stadium 2. It's smaller, more intimate, and a much better venue for this match. Fans get into matches on the outer courts. Stadium Court can feel like everyone's there to take a nap, especially for the first match of the day.

Besides, if you really want to blame anyone, blame JJ, who's still in doubles and therefore has little flexibility in where you can schedule her match. It has to be played early. Or, if you were a reasonable person (aka, not me), you'd blame Flavia and Gisela for not beating JJ/Pavs when they had the chance. Or, if you were an even more reasonable person (aka, definitely not me) you'd blame any of Kim, Caro, or Masha's second and third round opponents for not knocking one of them out.

It's fun being a tennis fan. It's even more fun when you have a player, that ONE player in your stable that you absolutely adore. You see them walk out on the court and your smile broadens to face-breaking proportions. Everything they do is hilarious, adorable, awesome, and fantastic. "Look! He's taking a picture with a koala!" "ZOMG, she's riding a jetski! Isn't it the best thing you've ever seen?" "OMG, he just picked his butt! I want to sniff his fingers he's so cute!" Everything they do is viewed through rose-colored glittery lenses and they can do absolutely no wrong.

If one were a hard-core fan of one Samantha Jane Stosur, one would know that these two and a half months of tennis haven't been all that groovy. BUT, as a hard-core fan of the Foreceped Marvel, one would also be inclined not to have hit the panic button. Sure, there have been lots of losses, but they've been quality losses!

Losing to Jarka in Brisbane? Whatever, that was the first tournament of the year. She's just rusty! Losing to Sveta in Sydney? Oh, it's just Sveta. Sveta can have her unbeatable days. Losing to Petra in Melbourne? Tall, flat-hitting left-hander? That's her kryptonite! It was a tough draw and Petra's a total up an comer. Losing to Flavia and Fran at Fed Cup? Pfft. It's Fran and Flavi! They're in her head. She's still a fantastic player. She just needs matches. Losing to JJ in Dubai? JJ's finding her rhythm again and it's not like she's a scrub! All in all, aside from her losses to Jarka and Petra, she played a bunch of tight three setters that really could have gone either way. That's just tennis, right? And everyone knows Sam plays like crap in Australia.

That said, one would also know that Ms. Stosur came into Indian Wells on the cusp. Either she was going to come out of it solidly reasserting herself as a player who has earned the right to be expected to win matches into the later rounds, or she would suffer yet another early round loss and slip the other way into Question Mark Town. You know that town. That's where all the high ranked players who always seem to get picked as the player to crash out early of a tournament live. It's not Irrelevance City, but it ain't Top Dogsville, either.

Losing to Dinara, who serve aside (16 DFs!!!) played remarkably well, isn't necessarily a bad loss. Dinara was crushing the ball for winners and displaying that aggressive game that seemed to have escaped her. But in this case it wasn't the result that was the problem. It was the performance. And no one, not even the biggest Samantha Stosur fan in North America (I dare you to challenge me) could walk away from that match with any credibility without acknowledging one painful, sobering fact: Sam played like absolutely crap and there are absolutely no excuses for it.

Losing 50-50 rallies or having someone impose their game on you so that you are absolutely useless is one thing. I saw that earlier today when Flavia played Kleybs. Kleybs was crushing the ball for winners and Flavia could do nothing about it. But when Dinara is serving 70 mph second serves to your forehand and you're dumping them into the net repeatedly, or when you have a neutral ball and just flat out sail it long over and over and over and over and over again, that's not because you're getting outplayed. That's because you're playing horribly and for whatever reason, can't get yourself into it.

Now, the hardcore fan in me desperately wants to think this was a one-off match. "Oh, she just didn't have it today. Happens to everyone." Trust me, a huge part of me, namely my heart, wants to hit Ctrl-A, Delete on this whole post. But I can't escape the one thing that has been nagging me throughout my travels around Australia and now the US watching Sam play tennis.

She's not serving well. She's not hitting aces, she's not getting the flat serve over and in, and she's not doing enough on her kicker to force a short ball that she can hit for a winner. At her best, Sam's service games are a series of regular 1-2 punches. That's not happening in 2011. She's finding herself stuck in rallies that, if she's able to control, she can't seem to terminate. It is absolutely infuriating to watch and it's what drove me early in the second set to start audibly whining.

It wasn't my proudest moment.

So there it is. I think Sam's in a slump and I think she'll stay in that slump until she rights her serve. It's the cornerstone of her game. She has to be able to hold easily and right now, that's not happening. Who knows. Maybe she'll figure it out in Miami or in Charleston when her feet hit the clay. What I do know is that the rosy glitter glasses have been yanked from my face and I now believe that her ineffective serve is the reason she's been losing lately. Not the matchups.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see a bartender about a bottle of whiskey. That's the only way I'm sleeping tonight.

March 14, 2011

Did anyone see this coming? Not just posting up a win over a top 5 player, but playing as well as she did? In between my moments of absolute disgust over Sam's level of play and my attempts to stave off depression, I was floored by Dinara tonight. That is, without a doubt, the best I've seen her hit the ball off the ground in over a year. Sure, she served 16 DFs and was pretty touch and go whenever she went up for that serve, but she moved fairly well, got a bunch of balls back, and played aggressively with success.

To quote Andrew Krasney, the on court announcer, during the post-match interview: "You look like you need a hug. Can I give you a hug?" I think the entire tennis world is with you, Andrew.

It was an amazing performance and if the person on the other side of the net wasn't who she was, I would be over the moon right now. Well done, Dinara. You so owned it and you absolutely deserved to win that match.

She'll play her fourth straight match on Stadium Court tomorrow against Masha (who destroyed Rezai in straights), another Russian trying to fight her way out of an injury-sparked slump. Asked about Masha, "She's coming back from injury, too. A little higher ranked than me. (pause) Just 100 spots." Heh.

After what I saw from Dinara tonight, you'd be an idiot to bet against her. You'd probably be an idiot to bet on her, too, so let's not be idiots and sit back and enjoy what's happening.

I just don't get it, Fran. When you're across the net from her you play like a god. When you're next to her you play like a goat. Not a GOAT. A goat. Why are you hell-bent on making Sam's life difficult, and in turn, my life impossible? Steph and I, independently of each other, decided that if Fram made the doubles final we would absolutely stick it out in Indian Wells until Sunday.

But noooooooo. You guys had to lose to Vika and Makiri.

So let's break it down: Frank kinda blew the whole operation. Sam has been, much to my shock, an absolute rock in doubles this week. She's served well, dominated baseline rallies, and volleyed really well. In fact, she put on a virtual clinic today in front of a packed-as-sardines crowd on Court 8. There were queues to get into a ladies doubles match, you guys. Like...you had to wait multiple changeovers before you could get in. Nuts, right?

In the middle of the second set the ladies behind me began to audibly wonder if Sam had missed a volley all match. Considering that they had, prior to that topic, been discussing the fact that they would love Sam, Fran, or Makiri's body, but not Vika's, I am inclined to think these women were experts in all things of the world. So I'll take their word for it. Sam wasn't missing at all.

Fran on the other hand. Well, allow this video to explain:

Fram's reaction is priceless. Fran was UFE-ing up a storm all match, to the point that Sam was just laughing all the time. The easier the shot, the bigger the miss off the yellow and black Babolat that once slayed Sam's dreams of glory.

My totally reasonable explanation? Fran was intentionally mocking her. "See how horrible at tennis I can be, Samantha? Remember when I couldn't miss a volley or overhead back in May? WATCH ME HIT THIS ONE 5 FEET OUT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

Not that it was all Fran's fault. Vika and Makiri played pretty well, too.

All this is to say, it was a total bummer. I really enjoyed watching Fran and Sam play doubles together and I hope they do it in Miami as well. Even when she's playing like crap Fran has the ability to bring out the joy in everyone, fans and doubles partners alike. You couldn't wipe the permagrin off Sam's face if you tried.

Then again, how could you not break out into a goofy grin when every time you turned around, this was staring back at you:

I wish I knew how to quit you, Frank. Sam probably wishes he same thing.

I am super worried about Maria tomorrow. Everyone should be after she needed three sets to dispatch of AMG on Saturday night. Delpo, who knocked out defending champ Lubey in his best performance of the year, will take on the new bracket-buster on the block in the form of Dolgo. Eeeeeek!

And of course, we have that Roland Garros consolation match at night. Like I care.

It's about midnight and I'm packing up my stuff but I would be remiss if I didn't leave a note to let you know that Bepa just lost to Domi in three sets.

Yes it happened. I was there.

Domi needed six match points and got a case of the chokes the likes of which I have literally never seen before. Serving for the match she had triple match point at 40-love and literally froze. Two horrible swings at the ball got Bepa back to 40-30. Domi walked up to the line to serve and just stood there frozen in her pre-serve stance staring at the ground for a good 10 seconds and finally backed off the line, much to Bepa's annoyance. She got back to the line, stood frozen for a while longer and threw up an errant toss, which she had to catch. It was nutty.

But whatever. She finally converted her sixth match point and she's now chalked up wins over Caro and Vera in 2011. Get into the semis, Fran.

March 13, 2011

The desert of Indian Wells can be cruel to some and kind to others. So far it's been a virtual mecca for Dinara, who's scored back-to-back straight set wins over Parra Santonja and, rather impressively, Dani, 76 64. You know what's even weirder? With her next match against Sam (yes, MY SAM) scheduled for Monday's night session, that's 3 straight matches on Stadium Court, two of them at night.

Indian Wells knows what's up. Put the spotlight on the hamster.

Speaking of cute little animals, I feel like I've seen Sam play a whole bunch this week. Then I realized she's actually only played one singles match. I guess I get waaaaaaaay too excited for her doubles matches with Frank. She looked solid against Pous-Tio, but that wasn't a test in any way shape or form. Pous-Tio had no weapons with which to do damage and the one hour match was basically hitting practice for Sam.

Being the Negative Nelly that I am I will just say that the match really should have been 45 minutes. Sam let her off the hook way too many times. But I like her attempt to get to the net and serve and volley more, even if the results range between calamity and FUBAR.

She's played really well in doubles, though, which is kind of new. For all the talk of her being a former doubles star, which she totally is, she's kind of sucked at the net for the past year. Don't pretend you haven't noticed.

And so we'll have a night match on Stadium Court between two players who probably should have been Roland Garros champions but aren't and whose careers will likely be defined by those losses.

Four great things about Ana's win on Sunday. First...uh she won, idiots. That's awesome, full stop.

Second, she played well. She was only broken once and even then, she broke herself by serving three double faults. I thought she was nicely patient in the rally while at the same time looking for her opportunity to crack a forehand and come in to the net.

Third, she sets up a clash with her bestie JJ, who took out Goerges in straights, on Tuesday. Those are always an adventure.

What a weekend of woe. Not just woe, but unexpected woe. Woe that you kind really didn't see coming until you turned the corner and someone shoved a spoon in your eye.

Like...what?

Let's start with this guy. He not only lost but he lost in straight sets to DONALD YOUNG. DONALD YOUNG!!! For the second straight year I didn't even bother watching the match, opting to hang out at the new and AMAZING Corona tent, assuming that my super fuzzy-haired boyfriend would get the job done over the talented but prone to imploding DYoung. So imagine my surprise when I turned to watch the big screen to see DY holding AT LOVE. Against one of the best returners in the game who happens to be my reason for tennis existence.

Speaking of people who have not been all that fantastic after losing a Grand Slam final, HAI NAILS.

She was upset by Peng 46 63 63. All credit to Racquet Required. She totally called the upset on Twitter when the draw came out and I didn't think it was a bad call. Peng hasn't had the results but she's been right there in her matches and playing quite well.

Sorry, Indian Wells economy. You won't be seeing the Li credit card this year.

Here's the thing. If we learned anything from last year's Ana/Montreal fiasco it's that denying someone a wildcard kind of lights a fire and virtually guarantees that they will make you look like a fucking moron. Ana got hosed by Montreal and went on to the semis of Cincy.

SVETA WHAT THE FUCK WORD??? McHale??? SNOOKI??? I mean, what is that about? I know, I know. It's Sveta. She can rock your world one night and show up the next holding a bag of cold Taco Bell, smelling like piss, and slurring her words. But COME. ON.

And then there's this guy going down to Malisse in straights, 76(6) 75. It's not like I should be shocked. Jo hasn't been playing all that great and he's coming off of injury. But I WANT TO SEE SHIRTLESS JO PRACTICING. If it's any consolation I cardigan'd Jo at the bar later that night. He was looking delicious in his ash grey cardigan, jeans, and white kicks. He also seemed to have a lady friend.

March 11, 2011

Yup, Novak was snuggled up in Ana's box (never not funny!) as she played a solid match, with flashes of brilliance here and there, to beat Kimiko 64 62. The serve was ok but the story was her forehand which looked better than I've seen this year, particularly on the return. Let's not get too excited, Ana fans. It wasn't exactly an inspiring performance. But it was a win and if you think about it, it's her biggest win of the year.